CROATIAN PM TELLS AMBASSADOR CROATIA SUPPORTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ZAGREB 000225 SIPDIS SIPDIS FOR EUR, EUR/SCE, INR E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/06/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV EUN HR YI REGIONAL ISSUES SUBJECT: CROATIAN PM TELLS AMBASSADOR CROATIA SUPPORTS AHTISAARI PLAN FOR KOSOVO REF: ZAGREB 149 Classified By: Ambassador Robert A. Bradtke for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) During a meeting on other subjects (septel) March 2, Croatian PM Ivo Sanader told the Ambassador that Croatia completely supported the Ahtisaari plan on Kosovo's final status. Belgrade was upset with the GOC over their public support for Ahtisaari, which Sanader said he regretted, but Sanader felt the GOC had no choice but to support the envoy's plan. ¶2. (C) Sanader also said that Kosovar Albanian PM Ceku was very happy that he had been invited to the Southeast Europe Cooperative Process (SEECP) Foreign Ministers meeting in Zagreb that week. Serbian FM Draskovic, was, of course, unhappy about this, he added. Nevertheless, Sanader thought inviting Ceku was a "good signal" to Belgrade of what the future would be like. ¶3. (C) Sanader said there would be two meetings of the European Peoples' Party Prime Ministers in the next few months, which he had encouraged Serbian PM Kostunica to attend. Kostunica did not attend the last two, he said, which had been a mistake (although somewhat understandable, as they took place during the run-up to Serbian elections), since he lost an opportunity to try to convince 10 European PMs of his policy views on Kosovo's final status. The next EPP meeting would be the next week in Brussels; after that, in Berlin on the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. BRADTKE